 
\chapter{Preface}


Who cares about calculus? Well, calculus is used in virtually
every branch of science where a problem can be mathematically modeled and 
an optimal solution is desired. In applications, quite often you
``know'' or strongly suspect something based on your understanding
of the general principles in that field. Calculus allows
you to quantify your expectations.

For example, you
know if you drop a car from a helicopter it will fall to the
ground in a short length of time, possibly causing a lot
of damage to the vehicle. Now suppose you are
directing a truck commercial for television. You really
want to know {\it exactly} how much damage is caused
by dropping the car from a specific height so you can 
prepare precise instructions for the chopper 
pilot and cameramen. This quantitative precision 
is where mathematics, namely calculus, can help.

Image a football quarterback throwing a 
football to a receiver during game. Now suppose you want to 
design a program for a computer game that allows players to 
play football on their computer or game console 
(or cell-phone). You need to know exact equations for
the football's trajectory in its path to the receiver.
Again, this is where calculus plays a role.

Hopefully this book will help provide a bit of foundation 
for you to go on to design the best video game or commercial
or whatever your future brings to you!

\noindent
{\it Acknowledgements:}
We thank Minh Van Nguyen for his careful proofreading and 
many excellent suggestions for revisions.
